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The acquisition will enable Veranda to expand its footprint across the country. The deal will also mark Veranda’s foray into MBA, NEET and JEE test-prep segment

The deal will be conducted in a phased manner, with the execution likely to be completed over the course of two years.

Indian edtech startups raised close to $4.7 Bn across 165 deals in 2021.

Edtech platform Veranda Learning has signed a definitive agreement to acquire test-preparation institute T.I.M.E. for INR 287 Cr.

The acquisition will enable Veranda to expand its footprint across the country. Once the deal goes through, it will also mark Veranda’s foray into the MBA, NEET and JEE test-prep segment.

T.I.M.E. is a leading test-prep institute with a pan-India presence, operating through 188 centres including franchisees spread across 98 cities in India, and is headquartered in Hyderabad.

It also offers training programmes for national and state-level entrance exams like CAT, MAT, CMAT, CLAT, IIT Foundation, JEE mains & advanced, NEET, IPM, BBA, CUET, GATE, Bank PO, SSC, state-level admission exams and international exams like GMAT, GRE, IELTS and TOEFL including campus recruitment training.

Amoha Education Private limited, a subsidiary of T.I.M.E., has been offering training in spoken English since 1981. It offers spoken English training in both, physical classroom mode and the distance education mode.

It also has a chain of pre-schools under the T.I.M.E. Kids brand, operating through 222 pre-schools in 56 cities. 

In a release, Veranda Learning said that the acquisition will be done in a phased manner, with 80% of the outstanding capital along with management control in phase 1, followed by the purchase of the remaining 20% at the end of two years, subject to the fulfilment of closing conditions.

The acquisition was approved by Veranda Learning’s board of directors during its meeting held on Monday (April 25). The board, among other resolutions, also approved an increase in its authorised capital from INR 60 Cr to INR 100 Cr and increase of investment limits from INR 750 Cr to INR 1,000 Cr. 

Founded in 2020, Veranda is the edtech arm of Kalapathy Group. It offers test prep courses for competitive exams such as banking, insurance, railways, among others. It also offers a slew of courses in the skilling and upskilling domain.

Indian edtech startups raised close to $4.7 Bn across 165 deals in 2021. Of this, BYJU’s alone raised about $1.9 Bn. India also minted three new edtech unicorns last year – Eruditus, upGrad and Vedantu.

Earlier this month, upskilling platform Newton School raised $25 Mn as part of its funding round, led by Steadview Capital. Earlier in March, Delhi NCR-based edtech startup Classplus bagged $70 Mn in a Series D funding round, led by Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global. In March, another edtech startup Saarthi Pedagogy also raised about $2.1 Mn as a part of its Pre-Series A funding round, led by Pinnacle Investments.

According to an Inc42 report, the Indian edtech market was pegged at $2.8 Bn in 2020 and is estimated to grow to $10.4 Bn  by 2025.